Govt Saved Rs.36,000 crores through Direct Cash Transfer in One Year: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Union Minister for Law & Justice, Electronics & IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday disclosed that the NDA Government saved Rs.36,000 crores by digitalizing economic activities such as payment of subsidies and MGNREGA wages through direct cash benefit facilities on to the accounts of intended beneficiaries through Aadhaar.

With e-commerce facilities being made available to rural folk, the government succeeded to transfer their wages for many of its social schemes to intended beneficiaries into their accounts which has amounted to a savings of Rs.36,000 crores in the last 12 months with leakages being plugged, explained the minister.

Addressing a Plenary Session on Transforming India Through Digital India of 111th Annual Session PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today, Mr. Prasad forecast that e-commerce has been gaining in so much of public accessibility with pro-active government’s e-commerce drive that its size in next five years would be around $1 trillion.

The government, according to Mr. Prasad has been driving the digital drive and e-commerce in such abundance that poor labourer is getting their benefits beyond imagination of habitat living in and around metros and large cities. That is the power of digital India and e-commerce initiatives for which the government would do all possible with suitable laws and policy initiatives for Cyber Security, pointed out the Minister.

As a result of giving a wider spectrum for e-commerce initiatives close to 40 mobile units have come to India to manufacturer mobile devices, of them 11 are approved of for Noida, indicated Mr. Prasad.

He added that with the digital initiative of the government being widened to postal services, a couple of leading multi-national banks such as City Bank, Deutsche Bank and Barclays of London would shortly be forging ties with host of Indian post offices to set up payment banks for rural India.

Among other who spoke on the occasion also consisted of President, PHD Chamber, Dr. Mahesh Gupta and its Senior Vice President and Vice President, Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka and Mr. Anil Khaitan.